This invention relates generally to the field of card destruction. More specifically, the invention relates to automated systems and methods to verify that a card is intended to be destroyed and to produce an audit record of the destruction.
A variety of organizations issue cards to their customers. For example, such organizations may issue credit cards, debit cards, smart cards, loyalty cards and the like to their customers. Often, such organizations contract with another company to produce and mail such cards to the end consumer. For a variety of reasons, once produced some of the cards may need to be destroyed. For instance, some cards may be returned by the postal service as being undeliverable, the customer""s account may be closed, or the like.
While such cards can be manually destroyed, such a process is time intensive and can make it difficult to produce reliable records of the destruction. Hence, this invention relates to systems and techniques to facilitate card destruction in a more efficient and reliable manner.
In one embodiment, a card destruction system comprises a reader for reading identification information from a card. A controller is coupled to the reader to receive the identification information and to determine whether the card is to be destroyed. A delivery sensor is also coupled to the controller to sense when the card is delivered to a card destruction device. The controller uses the sensed information to produce a record of the destruction. In this way, an automated system is provided to confirm that a card is to be destroyed, to destroy the card, and to confirm that the card was in fact destroyed.
In one aspect, a moving system may be used to move the card through the reader and to the card destruction device. Such a moving system may be constructed of a plurality of rollers that may rotate in opposite directions to move the card through the system. For convenience of manufacture, an AC motor may be used to rotate rollers that are both upstream and downstream of the reader. A DC motor may also be used to rotate rollers that are associated with the reader. In this way, the controller may be used to stop rotation of the reader rollers (by stopping the DC motor) if a card has been read by the reader but a confirmation that the card is to be destroyed has not been received. In this way, the card is prevented from prematurely passing to the card destruction device. Conveniently, sensors may be provided just before and after the reader to track the location of the card as it enters and exits the reader.
In a further aspect, the system may include a feeding mechanism to feed individual cards from a stack of cards and to the moving system. The feeding mechanism may include a cam that is moved based on a signal from the controller to in turn move a card from the stack and into the moving system.
The card destruction system may also include a switch that is disposed along the moving system downstream of the reader to direct the card to the destruction device or to a holding location depending on the determination from the controller as to whether the card should be destroyed. In a further aspect, the record produced by the controller may include information such as the identification information, a time and date of destruction, the operator monitoring the destruction, and the like.
Hence, in use an operator simply needs to place a stack of cards that are to be destroyed into the feeding mechanism. Cards from the stack are then individually fed into the moving system where their identification information is read and checked to confirm that the cards are to be destroyed. If so, the cards are directed to the card destruction device where a sensor confirms their destruction.